Head of internal unit at DPSCS departing

TOWSON — The head of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Service’s internal investigative unit is leaving for a federal job.

The agency announced the departure of Jesse Ballard, a 26-year veteran of the agency, on Friday.

The unit handles investigations of inmates, detainees, employees and others.

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services has come under scrutiny recently after a sweeping federal indictment charged 25 people in a contraband conspiracy at the Baltimore City Detention Center, including 13 correctional officers.

But Gary Maynard, the head of the agency, says he wishes Ballard would remain.

The department says Ballard will personally train his successor until his last day in June. He is leaving to work for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.